Hello Ecologgers - Thank you for your quick and numerous responses to my query
about the treatment of ecology in AP classes. I received a wide range of
responses and suggestions. Some summaries:
Regarding the coverage of ecology in high school AP classes:
- Based on the College Board's published coverage of biology material,
ecology is 10% of the test. This is comparable to the percentage for cells,
evolutionary biology, and heredity. ("Structure and function of [organisms]"
gets a much larger 32%, but that also encompasses many topics)
- The logical point was made that if a student received a 4 or 5, then
the student must have retained enough of the ecology material.
- Several current or former H.S. teachers emailed me to say that
ecology is well-covered.
- However, I also received far more comments from individuals who said
that their own AP class barely, if at all, covered ecology. Anecdotal evidence
yes, but it was a common comment
Regarding the awarding of credit in college:
- I agree with the comments of many that to award credit to biology
majors for a high school class is to place a lot of faith in high school
instruction without any oversight.
- Many institutions offer no credit; many others offer non-major
credit for a 4 or 5 on the AP.
If nothing else, this informal survey did forestall a hasty decision on our
part, and I think we are going to do a more complete survey of what is common
for Colleges and Departments like ours.
Thanks again for all of the generous responses.
-Jeff
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Jeffrey D. Corbin
Department of Biological Sciences
Union College
Schenectady, NY 12308
(518) 388-6097
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